UNIVERSITY OF NOTRE DAME FOOTBALL MEDIA CONFERENCE

September 23, 2023

Rico Flores Jr.

Press Conference

Notre Dame - 14, Ohio State - 17

Q. Rico, just take us to the touchdown and what that feeling was like for you.

RICO FLORES, JR.: I mean, it was a tremendous feeling. I don't even remember. I'll have to watch it later. But just the -- I seen it all coming from how he was playing, had a little outside shade and I'm pretty sure I had a post. It was like a weird post that we run. So I executed the play and it was hyping -- it was hype after that.

Q. What's it like to be able to have that type of moment and your performance overall in a game like this?

RICO FLORES, JR.: It means a lot. But, you know, there's always work that could keep being done and keep being added. So until that happens, I don't feel -- I don't feel it yet, but we got to get to practice and start working immediately.

Q. Rico, obviously, this is your first season in college football. But you get a sense of how you guys can bounce back and how does that happen over the next week as you guys got another really big one Saturday against Duke?

RICO FLORES, JR.: Like I said, we just got to go to practice, keep our head down, and work. And don't focus about the past. Can't do nothing about the past. It is what it is. And we're going to truck it, take it to the end and keep fighting.

Q. Hey, Rico, right here. From a personal standpoint, what does it do for your confidence, not to just make some key plays in this game, but to have the trust of your teammates and your coaches that you're out there on third downs or out there in a key situation to make that touchdown catch?

RICO FLORES, JR.: I personally feel like it's been adding up since I got here in January. I'm a hardworking player and I'm going to keep going. So just keep adding to the team and my key part will keep building our team together and everybody's got their place and role. And once we get that together, there's no stopping us.

Q. And following up on Tyler's question: In terms of inside the locker room after the game, we know what Coach Freeman said, but what did you guys kind of say to one another?

RICO FLORES, JR.: Got to go to practice, start working. We can't have no excuses. We made mistakes and we got to clean them up.

Q. Rico, that drive when you had the touchdown, it was kind of engineered by, you know, you, Jaden, Jeremiyah, freshmen. What does that kind of do for your guys' confidence as a group?

RICO FLORES, JR.: For sure build it. But, again, like, I don't feel like we was really paying attention to that. We was just going. We was just working. But there's a lot of confidence built. But we've been adding that from day one.

Q. So far this season, you guys have had some success taking some deep shots. Tonight, Ohio State did a decedent job of taking that away. Was that something they were doing or just was it not there in the game plan, the change and sort of approach than the past game? What led to that, do you think?

RICO FLORES, JR.: Can you repeat the question?

Q. Oh, just about, like, taking deep shots. You've had such success with that in the season. Tonight was a little bit different. Was there anything that Ohio State did to take that away or was it just sort of not focusing on the game plan?

RICO FLORES, JR.: I feel like -- we didn't execute. We didn't reach our full potential. So we just got to come down with balls and keep making plays.